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this was okay, a little embarrassing in how much Roth tried to push a ~*grand theme*~ that didn't really make sense in the story she was telling.
So conflicted, because it's a decent story idea - using an alien invasion/subjugation as a metaphor for colonization - but holy shit there wasn't a shred of subtlety to be found here.
DNF @ 60% because I have a fucking limit and it just got crossed so hard I can't even parse the lines of text I just read. Jesus Christ.
I knew I enjoyed Ilona Andrews' writing after ravenously reading the entire Kate Daniels series earlier this year, and I'm so glad that my enjoyment translates to something entirely different from them.
Fated Blades is a perfectly short and sweet romance between two incredibly intense, deadly, and competent heads of enemy families. Betrayal forces Ramona and Matias to work together, and because this is a romance, of course they connect. They do fall in love very quickly with the assistance of a sci-fi version of being mated, but there was enough insight into both of them as people and how they viewed one another that I totally believed they could fall for each other.
The world building here is pretty neat for the short amount of time the Andrews had with this page count, but they absolutely made it work. The technology of their blades feeling almost like fantasy magic, the set up of their families and culture, the set up of their planet's place in their planetary system, the politics of it all - it just <i>worked</i> for me.
This was totally the palate cleanser I needed right now.
Fated Blades is a perfectly short and sweet romance between two incredibly intense, deadly, and competent heads of enemy families. Betrayal forces Ramona and Matias to work together, and because this is a romance, of course they connect. They do fall in love very quickly with the assistance of a sci-fi version of being mated, but there was enough insight into both of them as people and how they viewed one another that I totally believed they could fall for each other.
The world building here is pretty neat for the short amount of time the Andrews had with this page count, but they absolutely made it work. The technology of their blades feeling almost like fantasy magic, the set up of their families and culture, the set up of their planet's place in their planetary system, the politics of it all - it just <i>worked</i> for me.
This was totally the palate cleanser I needed right now.
i need to stop trying to make gothic happen for me. i just can't vibe.
Shockingly good for a cookbook, though I shouldn't be surprised.
This isn't just a plain cookbook with some splash pages of character art here and there as you browse through recipes. Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen uses the characters to great effect, essentially creating a little slice of life volume with the characters we already love as they cook and bake and create gorgeous looking food. Most of the fantasy ingredients have real world versions, and the recipes look delicious.
Shirahama's art is astounding, as always - no surprise there.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read this!
This isn't just a plain cookbook with some splash pages of character art here and there as you browse through recipes. Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen uses the characters to great effect, essentially creating a little slice of life volume with the characters we already love as they cook and bake and create gorgeous looking food. Most of the fantasy ingredients have real world versions, and the recipes look delicious.
Shirahama's art is astounding, as always - no surprise there.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read this!
Interesting for the attempts it makes to muse on humanity and emotion and relationships amongst some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, but a little too scattered for my liking.
I get that this is going for a strange "mundane life goes on even when the world is ending" kind of vibe, but it would be served better if it made ANY SORT OF SENSE.
Reading this felt like I was off-kilter and inches away from Getting It every other page. These aren't characters, these are weirdos who said weirdo things that make NO damn sense. Could I tell you the difference between the two best friends if they didn't have different hair? Hell no. Why was there a weird almost teacher/student subplot?? Every single theme, character, plot, scene, conversation felt like half of it was missing from the story entirely. It was just ODD.
I did grab the first 3 volumes from my library, but I don't care enough to continue.
Reading this felt like I was off-kilter and inches away from Getting It every other page. These aren't characters, these are weirdos who said weirdo things that make NO damn sense. Could I tell you the difference between the two best friends if they didn't have different hair? Hell no. Why was there a weird almost teacher/student subplot?? Every single theme, character, plot, scene, conversation felt like half of it was missing from the story entirely. It was just ODD.
I did grab the first 3 volumes from my library, but I don't care enough to continue.
Yeah okay, fine, I UNDERSTAND NOW.
What an absolute feat. Was it a few hundred pages too long? Probably. Did I soak up every single bit of it? Absolutely.
What an absolute feat. Was it a few hundred pages too long? Probably. Did I soak up every single bit of it? Absolutely.